Overview
- President Trump said a second U.S. strike on an alleged Venezuelan drug boat killed three people in international waters and released a short attack video, while offering no independently verified proof of narcotics.
- Earlier this month, a separate U.S. operation reportedly killed 11 on a fast boat, and Trump later claimed that large sacks of cocaine and fentanyl were seen floating, a claim not verified by outside sources.
- Trump told reporters the U.S. has actually “disabled” three boats in total, but he provided no public details about the third incident.
- Rejecting Washington’s accusations, Venezuela began a three‑day exercise on La Orchila featuring drones, warships, aircraft and militia units, framing the drills as a response to U.S. deployments.
- UN human‑rights experts condemned the two lethal actions as potential extrajudicial killings, and figures such as Senator Jack Reed questioned the self‑defense justification as the U.S. expands naval and air assets in the region.